Who’s Up, Who’s Down: Blue Jays Batters

Over the past two weeks the Blue Jays are 5-5. The batters are hitting ..245/.321/.423. They have averaged 3.9 runs per game.

Let’s see how each batter has done.

Up

Justin Smoak: Started all 10 games. He hit .316/.366/.632 with 4 home runs, 5 RBI, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. He’s been consistently great all season so far. I have no complaints. His defense has looked good too. He’s a big target for throws at first. He seems to do a good job stretching for balls while keeping his foot on the bag.

Josh Donaldson: Started all 10 games. Hit .343/.465/.543 with 1 double, 2 homers, 5 RBI, 8 walks and 8 strikeouts. The last few games hasn’t been as good for him. He’s had just 2 singles in his last 14 at bats, over 4 games. He’s had a rough few days on defense too.

Steve Pearce: Back playing. 2 games, hit .667/.714/1.333. 7 PA, 4 hits, 1 double, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 1 walk. It would be nice if he could keep hitting.

Dwight Smith: Played in 4 games, starting 2. Hit .625/.625/.625. In 8 PA he has 5 singles. 1 RBI, 1 steal, 1 strikeout. I’d like him to get more playing time.

Down

Troy Tulowitzki: Started all 10 games. Hit .216/.275/.216, with 1 RBI, 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. The good news is that he has 4 hits in 9 at bats in our last 3 games, maybe he’s coming out of it. This season he’s hitting RHP well (.706 OPS), but not hitting lefties at all (.426 OPS). His defense hasn’t looked as good this year either.

Kevin Pillar: Played in all 10 game. Hit .182/.217/.318 with 3 doubles, 1 homer, 4 RBI, 1 steal, 1 walks and 12 strikeouts. I wish we could give him a day or two off. He’s always been a streak hitter. Buck and Pat love to tell us he’s got it all figured out, when he is on one of those good streaks, but it doesn’t seem to happen. I think this is the hitter we have, and we have to decide if his defense makes his bat worthwhile. I kind of think we ought to be looking to trade him, while he has decent trade value. I do worry that his defense could go downhill fast.

Jose Bautista: Started all 10 games. Hit .171/.310/.286 with 1 double, 1 homer, 2 RBI, 1 steal, 7 walks and 8 strikeouts. Speaking of guys that could use a day off.....I really wish they would DH him occasionally. He’s not young anymore. The Jays have played 68 games and he’s played 68 games, starting 67. I really don’t think 36 year olds should be playing every game in the outfield. It seems like the Jays have always played him hard until he gets injured. I wish they had a plan to keep him healthy. Maybe he would be more consistently effective if he was rested.

Ryan Goins: Played in 9 games, started 7. Hit .192/.222/.308 with 1 double, 1 triple, 3 RBI, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. I tire of hearing that he’s a different hitter with RISP. If that’s a skill I wish he would channel for every at bat. It seems stupid, to me, to hit like crap most of the time, and then turn it on for a few at bats. If you could choose to be an All-Star, why hit like a replacement player. UZR doesn’t like his defense as much as it did in the past. He’s got a -3.7 UZR/150 at second and a -20.5 at short this year. It is limited innings, but he hasn’t looked near as good as in the past.

Darwin Barney: Played in 4 games, starting 3. Hit .111/.273/.111, 1 single, 2 walks. He was hitting .319 back on May 12th. He’s hitting .221 now.

Luke Maile: Played in 4 games, starting 3. Hit .091/.091/.091, 1 single in 11 PA, 4 strikeouts. He’s playing good defense.

Somewhere In Between

Russell Martin: Played in 8, starting 7 of the 10 games. Hit .174/.321/.478, with 1 double, 2 homers, 3 RBI, 5 walks and 5 strikeouts. The .174 BA doesn’t look good, but he’s getting on base and 3 of his 4 hits were extra base hits. He’s thrown out 15% of base runners this season, same as last year. I don’t know what’s happened with his arm.

Kendrys Morales: Started all 10 games. Hit .244/.262/.561 with 1 double, 4 homers, 10 RBI, 1 walk and 10 strikeouts. I kind of expected he would walk more than once every week or two. They often say ‘professional hitter’ with guys like Kendrys. I figure professional hitters wouldn’t chase so much, would take a walk when it’s offered. He’s not been bad, he’s hitting home runs. Just I’d like to see more.

Injured

Anthony Alford: Broken hamate. Might be back playing in July.

Darrell Ceciliani: Separated shoulder. It will be awhile for him too.

Dalton Pompey: On rehab assignment. Just moved up to the Bisons. He’s hurt again. I think a leg injury, but haven’t heard much.

Devon Travis: It looking like he might not be back this season, or at least not until near the end.

Ezequiel Carrera: He’s gone for awhile with a broken foot. He played in 6 of the 10 games. Hit .357/.471/.571 with a homer, 2 RBI, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He goes through these stretches of hitting great, I’d love to see him go through a stretch of fielding great too.

Chris Coghlan: Joined the list on the DL.